Universe Author: Robert Dinwiddie | Language: English | ISBN:
0756698413 | Format: EPUB
Universe Description
From the fiery mass of the Sun's core to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Universe takes you on the ultimate guided tour of the cosmos. Full of stunning out-of-this world images reflecting recent advances in space imagery, you'll go on a journey from our solar system all the way to the farthest limits of space.
With information on the nature of the universe, the study of cosmology, Earth's motion, modern telescopes, astrophotography, and even a comprehensive star atlas, this groundbreaking encyclopedia takes a dazzling and expansive look at the Universe and is a must-have for both students and astronomy enthusiasts.
Includes a comprehensive star atlas that covers all the constellations and planetary charts showing their positions right up to 2019, with entries on each of the 88 constellations and notable celestial objects that lie within them, and a monthly sky guide showing the night sky as it appears throughout the year.
- Hardcover: 528 pages
- Publisher: DK ADULT; Rev Upd edition (September 17, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0756698413
- ISBN-13: 978-0756698416
- Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 10.2 x 1.7 inches
- Shipping Weight: 5.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
[MIT's The Tech] The new edition of Universe is nothing short of what it promises. Edited by Astronomer Royal Martin Rees and published for the Smithsonian Institution by DK, the book is a comprehensive, up-to-date, and visually mesmerizing guide to the cosmos and what we know of it. Its 500 pages are divided into three sections: astronomy in general, the cosmos, and the night sky.
The first section is mostly about the theory of physics, cosmology, and astronomy. It addresses basic questions about matter, energy, and space-time, presents current theories about the beginning and eventual end of the universe, and offers a primer on astronomy, to help the reader make sense of the changing appearances of the heavens. The graphics are breathtaking. A two-page plate titled "The scale of the universe" conveys a visceral sense of the immensity of the cosmos through a sequence of nested zoom-ins from the earth to superclusters. A four-page plate titled "The Big Bang" shows the birth of the universe from the Plank era to the appearance of matter.
The second section is mostly known facts about the universe at different scales. Our Solar System comes first, starting with the Sun itself and working outwards towards the Oort Cloud. As always, images are just eye-popping: close-ups of spots on the Sun, the rings of Saturn, and the scars on Europa... you name it. Then comes our galaxy, in all its splendor, with jaw-dropping photos of nebulas and star clusters, and after that a section on what lies beyond the Milky Way: nearby galaxies, galaxy clusters and finally superclusters. There is not a single page without magnificent photos and a pile of scientific facts.
I agree with other reviewers this is a five star book. Let me make a few points others may not have covered:
Reading outside I found a big difference in moving the book in and out of sunlight. In direct sunlight its pages just look better. The huge number of multi-colored sharp images really 'pop' in direct sunlight. Try reading this book outside with the sun behind you.
In an hour of reading I go through maybe 10 pages. At 500 pages this book is nearly two months of summer reading!
Galaxies and nebulae are generally shown as gorgeous composites of infrared, visible and x-ray satellite images. Images in various categories are arranged by distance from earth. Each object has a little fact box plus a few paragraphs of text highlighting its interesting features and historical reference.
However, some chapters are less interesting, for example, the chapter on star constellations. Far too many pages are devoted to covering all 'official' 88 constellations with each having a sky picture (with lines between the stars added) and a corresponding map showing the position of nearby galaxies and nebulae. The latter may be helpful to observers to locate deep space objects, but mostly this material shows the absurdity of the concept. Only a handful of the historical constellations, which vary from complex (20+ stars) to ultra simple (2 stars), in any real sense outlines the supposed image.
This book might have something like 100 facts per page (rough guess), so at 500 pages that's 50,000 facts. Think of the proof reading task, the proof readers are even listed on the title page. So is every fact right? No.
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